Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 was intended to take on Apple's iPhone (Source: Getty)

Francesca Washtell

South Korean electronics giant Samsung said today it expects to take a $3bn (£2.46bn) hit to its operating profit over the next two quarters because of the discontinuation of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

The announcement brings the total losses from the debacle to around $5.3bn.

In a market update earlier this week, the company slashed its estimates for the quarter to the end of September to 5.2 trillion won (£3.8bn), dialling back on initial estimates of 7.8 trillion won.

It also adjusted revenue estimates from 49 trillion won for the quarter to 47 trillion.

On Tuesday, Samsung said it will completely ditch further production of the device after numerous reports worldwide that the battery was prone to overheating and many had exploded.